9/27: Baseball Fans in New York State of Mind: Yankees Seen as World Series Favorites

Major League Baseball’s post-season begins this week. So, who do baseball fans nationally favor to win the World Series? More than one in five — 22% — think the New York Yankees will round the bases into their 28th World Series Championship, 16% say the Philadelphia Phillies will take the win, and only 6% believe the Boston Red Sox will slide into victory. Last year’s World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants, are favored to repeat by just 3% of baseball fans. The same proportion — 3% — thinks the Texas Rangers, the Atlanta Braves, or the Detroit Tigers will steal the title. 17% believe another team entirely will take the title, and 26% are unsure.

While more baseball fans sit behind the Yankees dugout, their arch rivals, the Boston Red Sox, have fallen from grace in the eyes of baseball fans. When Marist last reported this question in July, 17% favored the Bronx Bombers while 15% boasted the Red Sox. 10% touted the Phillies while 4% cheered on the Giants. Now out of the top five, 4% thought the St. Louis Cardinals would go all the way. 23%, then, said another team would be crowned the champions of baseball while 27% were unsure.

Die-hard baseball fans are few and far between. In fact, a majority of adults nationally — 53% — do not watch baseball at all while 30% tune in a little. Only 8% catch America’s pastime a good amount while 9% follow baseball a great deal.

Little has changed on this question since Marist’s July survey. At that time, 52% didn’t follow baseball at all, 30% had a little interest in the game, and 9% said they followed the sport a good amount. One in ten — 10% — proclaimed they were avid followers.